Sleeping car facilities



July 4, 1950 A. G. DEAN ET AL SLEEPING CAR FACILITIES 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 17, 1945 INVENTORS Albert Ci. Dean Norman WFesmz're Y July 4,1950

A. G. DEAN ET AL SLEEPING CAR FACILITIES Filed March 17, 1945 4 Shqets-Sheet 3 *PIG. 4

I N V EN TORS Albert 6. Dean.

Norman W Fe5mire BY Wvn ATTORNEY July 4, 1950 A. G; DEAN ET AL .SLEEPING CAR FACILITIES 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 17, 1945 LATCH OPERATORI INVENTORS M Z 5 BF 6W. am my AN BED OPERATOR ATTORNEY Patented July 4, 1950 SLEEPING CAR FACILITIES Albert. G. Dean, Narberth, and Norman W. Fesmire, Willow Grove, Pa., assignors to The Budd Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application March 17, 1945,.Serial No. 583,261

3Claims. l-v This invention relates to sleeping car facilities, particularly to a folding bed andrelated-devices, and has for an objectthe provision. of improvements in this art.

One of. the particular objects is to provide apower operated bed.

Another object is to provide safety. means. inv connection with a power operated bed.

Another objectis to provide power latchmeans for the-bed, which-latch meansisoperated whenever thebed actuating means is operated.

Another object. is toprovide interlocks providing that a basin and hopper. cover are cleared when. the 1 bed is lowered adjacent thereto.

Another object is to provide. convenient manual. means for operating. the bed independently of. the power operating means.

. The above and other objects-of. the invention willbe apparent from the following description of an illustrative embodiment, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical. longitudinal. section through a few adjacent compartments;

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse elevation. and section looking. toward thebedlin iolded position;

Figure. 3 .is abroken vertical longitudinal section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

. Figure 4 is a longitudinal section through the bed latching means, the section being taken on the .line 4-4 of'Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a section-through the bed operating power connection, the section being taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 3.;

-,Figure 6 is -a vertical transverse section taken on the line 5-4; of Figure 1;

Figure '7 is a vertical section to show latch operating mechanism,.the section being taken on the line 1 1 of Figure 3';

Figure 8 is a wiring diagram;

Figure 9 is a section in more detail of parts shown at the top of Figure 6,-these. parts being the basin interlock; and

Figure 10 is a vertical transversev sectionto show the hopper seat interlock.

Figure 11 is a diagrammatic sectional plan view, on a reduced scale and with detail omitted, of a room with the bed in lowered position, the section being taken substantially along the line H-l| ofFigure 6.

As shown in Figure 1, compartments], '2 and 3 are provided on one side of a coach 4. A win dow 5 is provided for each compartment. A bed 6 is hinged in one end'of each compartment. For convenience in removal the hinge pins 1 cf the bed are held in slotted brackets 8. A. seat Ill of the seat is hinged to fold down "when" the bed is swung'd'own. In compartment 2 the bed and chair back are shown in lowered position and in compartment'3 they are shown in raised position. The end support for the bed in lowered position is shown at H. Means are provided for latching the bed in both raised and lowered positions and this mechanism will be described later. A baggage shelf l2, a mirror I3,. anda bedlam'p M are also shown in Figure 1.

This general arrangement of sleeping comp'artments is disclosed and claimed in an application Serial No. 583,259, filed of even date'herewith, in the name of John W. Patton and entitled Sleeping Car.

As shown in Figures 6 and 11, a basin IT is hinged at" I 8 on the aisle side of'the'compartment and a toilet l9 located at'the end opposite the seat end is provided with a cover Zll'hinge'd at; As will be that end on an axis 2| (Figure 10). explained later; interlocking means are provided for assuring that the basin and the toilet cover are closed before thebed is operated.

Power means are provided for operating thebed between lowered and raised positions. shown this power means: comprises an electric motor M mounted under the head end of the bed insuch position as to-partly balance the weight of the-longer end; One ormoresprings- As'bestwshown in Figures 2, 3 and 5-the motor; provided with -suitab1e speed reducing gearsin-its:

unit casing, operates a: drive shaft .26, and.- this. drive shaft operates the bed through relief means which interrupts operation if an obstruction is- I encountered. This prevents injury to occupants 9 is'mounted in front of. the bed and theba'ck of the compartmentand also to the motor or equipment, the motor simply continuing toturn against yielding resistance if current. is maintained too-long. The operating means hereillustrated isa friction driveand comprises a frictiondisk 21 secured on the motor shaft 26 betweenfriction clampdiscs .28 turnably mounted thereon, the disks 28 having arms 29 to which a reaction link 35 is pivotedattl. The other end'of the link is pivoted at 32. to a fixed bracket 33. They clamp disks 28 arev resiliently held against the sides of the drive disk 2'! by bolts 34, springs 35 and nuts 36. The motor reversesto movethe bed in opposite directions. The bed latching means includes a bolt or slidably mounted in an opening of a guide 44 secured in the foot end of the bed and is adjust- 4 covered by round edge finishing strips or by resil ient upholstered edging if desired.

The bed operating motor and latch solenoid are controlled by a hand switch 80 (Figure 2) placed at some, convenient location, as on the door side wall of a cabinet 19, 'whichwall being located so near the door opening may be characterized as a door frame or jamb. By suitable means the switch may be held in central inop- .erative position unless held to one side or the 7 other by hand.

power operation. The solenoid core is pressed outwardly of the coil toward latching position by a spring 5| acting against another end member 52 of the solenoid casing. The outward movement of the core 46 is limited by a shoulder 53 thereon which engages the end member 49.

If power operation alone were concerned, the solenoid coil and casing could be fixed in position but for hand operation in case ofcurrent failure, it is desirable to have the coil and casin movably mounted and provided with means for manual movement. As here shown, an operating rod 55 is secured to the solenoid casing. As best shown in Figure 3, the operating rod 55 is slotted, as at 55, and connected to a pin 51 on a platelike lever member 58 which is turnably mounted on a fixed pivot 59 carried by brackets 6|] secured to the bed frame, Figure '7.

The member 58 may be operated either by hand lever 5! when the bed is in raised position or by a hand lever 62 when the bed is in lowered position. The lever 6| is mounted on a fixed pivot pin 63 and is operably connected to the member 58 by a link 54 and pins 65 and 6B. The lever 62 is mounted on a fixed pivot pin 6'! and is operably connected to the member 58 by a link 58' and pins 69 and Hi. Operation of either hand lever 6| or 52 will operate the other but provision of the slot 56 in the rod 55 provides for means of the beds on opposite sides of the aisle.

A spring 12 secured to the pin 65 of hand lever El and to a fixed bracket F3 on the bed frame holds both levers BI and 62 and related parts in retracted position. As here located the spring 12 holds the hand levers 5! and 62 down but they may be held down by spring snap detents or the like to prevent rattling and then, by connecting the spring 12 directly to the rod 55 and to a .fixed anchorage appropriately located, the hand levers may be initially moved without acting against the spring 12.

The latch operating mechanism is largely enclosed between the bed bottom shell and the inner shell 14 of the side rail H. The shells M carry between them the mattress spring 15 to which is secured the mattress 16. The mechanism of the hand lever 62 is covered on the side by a short bent plate 11. The rail top edges are As shown in Figure 9, the basin H is provided with snap latch means 8! for holding it in closed position. When closed it operates a switch 82, as by an arm 83. It may close an interlock switch in the present bed control circuit.

As shown in Figure 10 the cover 20 of the toilet l9 when closed operates; an interlock switch 84, for example by closing it.

The control circuit is shownin Figure 8. Power current is supplied by lines Li, L! to the switch 80 for the motor M and the latch-operating sole-' noid coil 41. The basin interlock switch 82and the toilet cover interlock switch 84 are shown in one line, as L2, and until both are closed the cur rent cannot be supplied to the bed operating motor M. Without explaining the circuit in detail, it can be seen that when the switch handle 80 is in upper position the motor M will be operated in one direction (as to raise) and when the switch handle is in lower position the motor will be operated in reverse direction (as to lower). In

. all cases the latch-operating coil is energizedto withdraw the latch plunger.

In operation, assuming the bed to be located in its upper orstored position and the basin and toilet cover to be located in bed-claring position with their interlock switches closed, the operator stands in the entrance door clear of the bed travel and moves the switch lever 85 downward. This releases the latchby action of the solenoid and starts the motor to lower the bed. If, after lowering, the switch is still held down the motor shaft will merely continue to turn against frictional resistance. When power is shut oil the latch holds the bed. To raise the bed, the switch lever is moved and held in upper position until the bed is raised and latched. If during bed travel the switch is released the travel stops and the bed remains in this position until operated a ain.

The hand operation is obvious. If the bed is up the handle 6| is accessible and is operated; and if the bed is down the handle 52 is accessible from the door and is operated. Operation by hand against the friction drive connection is not. at all difflcult.

While one embodiment of the invention has been described by way of example, it is to be understood that there may be various embodi ments within the limits of the prior art and the scope of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A bed comprising in combination, a bed frame mounted for movement between a stored and a usable position, power means for moving the bed between said positions, a latch for holding the bed in a position, operating means for the latch, means for controlling said power means to move the bed, and means activated by operation of said controlling means to actuate said latch operating means for-release of said latch to permit movement of the bed.

2.. Compartment facilitiescomprising in. com bination, a bed movable between use and storage positions, a motor for so moving the bed, a wash basin located adjacent said bed and being movable between use and storage positions, the wash basin, in its use position, extending into the path of movement of the bed and, in its storage position, being disposed outside said path, and energizing means for said motor rendered unavailable by the wash basin in its use position but rendered available by the movement of the wash basin to its storage position, whereby motor-operation of the bed is prevented while the wash basin extends into the path of the bed.

3. Compartment facilities comprising in combination, a bed movable between use and storage positions, a motor for so moving said bed, an accessory element located adjacent said bed and movable between two positions, in one of which it extends into the path of movement of the bed and in the other of which it is disposed outside said path, and energizing means for said motor rendered unavailable by said accessory when the latter is in said one position but rendered available by the movement of the accessory to the other position, after which the bed may be motoroperated.

ALBERT G. DEAN. NORMAN W. FESMIRE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 279,426 Payne June 12, 1883 755,952 Smith Mar. 29, 1904 956,340 Haley Apr. 26, 1910 1,541,198 Teter June 9, 1925 1,542,766 Hall June 16, 1925 1,552,004 Newhall Sept. 1, 1925 1,684,679 Nixon Sept. 18, 1928 1,838,561 Matheson et al. Dec. 29, 1931 1,915,507 Wright June 27, 1933 2,038,410 Bridenbaugh Apr. 21, 1936 2,067,136 Bridenbaugh Jan. 5, 1937 2,088,784 Galamb et a1 Aug. 3, 1937 2,323,069 McKinnon June 29, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 548,996 Germany May 9, 1932 

